Machine for fabricating capsules from elastic films



Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNox-Rlo v MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo 2,663,129

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTICl FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec..22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July i8, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 5 l 3oz-303 ENTOR l OIVOFRIO.

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EIYORNEY Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 6 m. l l R E maw. n m0 R O m .H .n |ll 0 O o M A l N l 2m m m wh l. A. 6% m www vll. NN\ %W\ nl. S o o l Q .I m L Nm, mmm. Qt fw .n.3 Il ll.' [.IH /V R Nm m3 l www In :vm www# h l O O O O Lim@ Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Shree?l '7 Num@ INVENTOR #MMM/W. ,0a/mmm.

'i'ORNEY lDec. 22, 1953 A, M, DoNol-Rlo 2,663,129

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR 4L Fa/vsa M. D12/mmm.

Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo 2,663,129

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 9 T IEE- INVENTORJ AL Fa/vso M. aA/aFR/a.

TTO RNEY Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo 2,663,129

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet lO F1535. F1534- F1555- 1715.55-

Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS 19 sheets-sheet 11 Filed July 18, 1951 Nmm.

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i; TT RNEY Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DONOFRIO MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet l5 INVENTOR I Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS wv Hvsm mmm n Rm NM@ Filed July 1s, 1951 Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet l5 -EEE L Fa/vso M. Dv/vaF/z fa.

A. M. DONOFRIO Dec. 22,1953

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS 19 sheets-sheet 16 Filed July 18, 1951 .m @DE .,w. mm N R M o 3.47m im M U Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DONOFRI'Ov 2,663,129

MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 1951 Y 19 Sheets-Sheet 17 lNvEN-ro ,42m/vso Da/voFR/o BY i n" f `'TORNEY Dec. 22, 1953 A. M. DoNoFRlo 2,563,129

` MACHINE: FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES FROM ELAsTIc FILMS Filed July 1,8, 1951 y19 SheetS-Shee'c- 18 INVENTOR I ,41m/v50 Ma/vo/-e/o.

BY .Gaz 5f ATTORNEY ec. Z2, w53 A. M. DoNoFRlo MACHINE FOR FABRICATING CAPSULES-FROM ELASTIC FILMS Filed July 18, 19'51 19 Sheets-Sheet 19 eed j ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 22, c1953 MACHINE YFORFABRICA'IIN G CAPSULES FROM' ELASTIC FILMSv kAlfonso M. Donofrio, Toledo, Ohio, 'assigner to American Cyanamid Company, New York, N Y., a corporation of Maine "Altllicatinhllyls, 1951, SerialNo. 237,353 y This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 126,026 filed November 7, 1949, which applicationis a division of my copending application Serial No. 718,527, which was led December 26, 1946 and is now Patent No. 2,513,852 Vissued July 4, 1950. This application also is a'continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial No. 195,967 ,led November 16, 1950, now Patent No. 2,624,164.

, This .applicatiom likeffits predecessors, has to do with the fabrication of soft substance containing vcapsules and principally directed toward apparatus designed for 'the high speed, commercial productionof edible gelatin capsules of ,the type generally familiar asrvitamin cap-l sules `Q for the administration o fv carefully measured dosages of various pharmaceuticals and medicines and also for the pmductionk ofysimilar articles fabricated from other elastic films for containing miscellaneous products such as small amounts of 'liquids,` pastes and powdered materials other'than"pharmaceuticals and medicines,

for example, small amounts of spot removing fluid, such as carbon tetrachloride, or lubricating oil `or vinsect repellent. In general, elastic films may befemployedlin a machine embodying the invention forv the' fabrication of capsules containing any desired iliquid, paste, orpowder or other substance'capable of transmitting hydrostatic forces which is compatible with elastic lm in which it is enclosed.

. Many machines of the, prior art have been developed for the fabrication,` of such articles of commerce, but in almost, 'all of such machines the capsules themselves have been formed from two symmetrical pocketed portions of the enclosing film such as edible gelatin. In Ythese machines the most customary type of operation consists in the use of two matching die rolls in the periphery of each of which are hemispherical or f cylindrical die pockets. The capsules are formed by spreading the elastic or stretchable material over the surfaces of the die rolls and either mechanically depressing the material into thepockets or dies or pulling it thereinto by suction applied to its underside. In any event, after the two sheets of encapsulating material are deformed into the matching die pockets, the substance, to be encapsulated is deposited either in one or both of the die vpockets and the two matchinglialf capsule depressions in the two sheets of encapsulating lm are placed in registry with ech'other and the lm sealed around the edges of" the hollow generally spherical body thus flamed.

22 Claims.' (Cl. 53-86) 'Regardless of the ymeans employed for forcing theA gelatin or other 'stretchable lm into the opposed matchingdie pockets andrregardless of the means employed fordepositing a measured' dose or quantity of the substance to be encap-v sulated, the problems engendered by the necessity for maintaining the opposed'die pocketsin per-l fect registry and for depositingthe substance to be encapsulated sothat it remains in place'as the gelatin or nlm is closed around it, are nu' merous and extremely difficult to overcome.

Many Yor theV difficumes 'encountered in this more conventional form of operation can be ob;

served in inspecting the numbers of prior art vpatentswhich have 4beenissued and these problems frequently arise from the fact that most substancesy which are'commercially purveyed in capsule-form containers are extremely expensive and thus any Wastage of content material (if existing in morethan a fraction of `a percent oi the total quantity being encapsulated) may inl-V crease the cost'of` operation to such an extentras to render the machine commercially not accept'- able. This 'is particularly true Where the 'two sheets of Yencapsulating film arev rSt DOCket'ed andthen passed :through orbeneath la general pool of the substance to vbe encapsulated. Under these conditions considerable quantities ofthe substance may be trapped'between the sheets of encapsulating film in the areas adjacent and be'j tween the pocketed portions ofthe lm'which form the desirable capsules.y Thus, .theweb or remaining portion of the encapsulating lms out of which the capsules are punched, as it were, may actually consist ina continuous grid of enclosed passagewayscontaining large quantities of expensive substance to be encapsulated. When this web of encapsulating lm is disposed of, either by remeltin'g (if it is thermoplastic as most such lms are) or by direct disposal, the substance trapped in the web'is lost.v

This same principal problem of cost due to lo'ss of expensive substance being encapsulated exists in other machinesof the` prior art where dosages are forced under pressure between sheets of encapsulating illm during or immediately just prior to the final'closure of the'two sheets oflm be'- tween the matching lips of die pockets in mated die rolls. The pressure may cause the substance to penetrate betweenV the sheets of capsulating film adjacent the edges vof the capsules to be formed before the two opposed films are adequately sealed to each other. This causes loss of substance in the web .as aboveexplained'and, furthermore, by leaving VAa 'minute thread of the 

